First Exploration of the Initial Sky Island

It happened that Leonard fell from a great height, ending up looking like a drowned rat. He crawled to the middle of the pond, landing on a lotus leaf, water still dripping off him. The weather was excellent, with clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Leonard didn't feel cold at all. He sat on the leaf looking at the sky, contemplating his next steps.

"Such a big cloud, like a giant piece of cotton candy. The bank is covered with short golden trees that resemble golden cake desserts from a teahouse. I think I'm hungry," he thought as he swam to the shore. After a few steps, he saw an open area ahead with a dragon slowly circling in the distance. Walking further into the shadows, Leonard realized it was indeed a dragon, but it was too far away for a clear view. With his current abilities, Leonard knew he couldn't interact with it.

Leonard made a note to return to find it another day.

Descending the broken stairs, Leonard found some blue mushrooms growing under a large tree. He was sure these mushrooms were non-toxic and quickly grabbed one and took a bite. It tasted raw and slightly sour, but had a pleasant aroma. As he ate, Leonard felt his strength increasing.

A few steps later, he came across an apple tree. Leonard didn't like eating apples, but he decided to gather some for future use.

While Leonard was picking apples, a monster statue wielding a branch came rushing over, appearing threatening. Leonard, with the branch he just picked up, unleashed a three-hit combo and took down the monster statue.

He proceeded forward and soon encountered a bronze-colored "fat" statue blocking his path. This "fat" statue appeared to wear a skirt and had a solid upper body with three white buds on its shoulders and head. Alongside its bronze-green skin, it looked rather comical.

When Leonard touched it, it surprisingly came to life. Its spine suddenly extended, connecting its hollow lower body and plump upper body with two green energy streams. Somehow, two arms sprouted from its upper body, and the statue transformed into an awakened lizard with claws.

It turned out to be a steward statue, not an enemy. It said Princess Zelda had left something for Leonard and handed over a camera that Zelda loved. The steward statue told Leonard that the device was called a Sheikah Slate, built with various features beneficial for adventurers.

With the Sheikah Slate, Leonard could now view the nearby map.

The steward statue carefully introduced the names of the places: "This is the Court of Time, and that is the Temple of Time." It pointed at a broad-topped, narrow-bottomed white building behind.

Leonard found this intriguing. He had played the previous game for a while, which didn't provide guidance to new players, and was thus unfriendly. Kingdom of Tears, the current version, seemed much better with the steward statue's tutorial.

The steward statue, unaware of Leonard's thoughts, complained, "This place used to be prosperous... but as you can see, it's now desolate."

Ignoring the steward statue, Leonard went straight to the semicircular altar behind. In the middle of the altar was a familiar green ring with a monster claw mark. Leonard pressed it without a word. The green ring disappeared abruptly, and the huge stone passage behind began to combine. In less than a minute, a wide passage made of huge stones appeared in front of Leonard. Excitedly, he rushed forward.

In a small floating room nearby, there was another steward statue identical to the previous one. It informed Leonard that the monster statue that had chased him was called a Guardian, and he must be careful to deal with them as they strictly guarded this place under the command of their masters. Leonard was confused; who were the masters? The steward statue then said, "They follow the orders of our masters – the Sages of Zonai, to eliminate all invaders!"

Looking at the leisurely flying dragon in the sky, Leonard didn't understand how he became an invader. After all, he was the great hero, Link. The steward statue apparently didn't understand Leonard's thoughts and couldn't answer his question either.

Leonard followed the mountain path to a larger pond. While swimming, a daring frog jumped onto Leonard. He grabbed it and put it in his pocket, planning to roast it later.

After swimming across the pond, Leonard stood on the hillside and looked out. There was a four-legged white monster with a black belly and neck running wildly below, seemingly with endless energy, which was quite scary. Observing it for a while, Leonard realized it was getting late and he still hadn't figured out lunch. He steeled himself, picked up the new stick, and charged at it, beating it relentlessly.

The monster was knocked down in a few hits, and when the smoke cleared, a chunk of meat flew out. "Yeah! I've got meat!" Leonard cheered like a child.

After a while, another steward golem was sitting by a bonfire, clearly indicating to Leonard to roast his food. Leonard did not waste words with it and quickly took out the apples, sky mushrooms, speedy frogs, and beast meat he had just gathered to roast. The aroma quickly filled the air, and the golem licked its lips. To prevent the golem from stealing his food, Leonard ate all the food he had cooked. What he couldn't eat, he hid before hitting the road again.

Well-fed and energetic, Leonard did not take a lunch break and picked up his club to continue his journey. Before long, Leonard arrived in front of some ancient ruins. The place clearly had some years on it; only a small part of the stairway remained, and he had to climb the rest of the way.

He came to a huge stone door with a green circle in the middle. As per the usual routine, Leonard extended his right hand to open the door and see what was behind it. However, this time, he wasn't so lucky. There was another seal in front of the stone door, an 'X'-shaped red lock chain seal, firmly keeping Leonard out.

"Oh, they won't let me in. Do I need to say a password like 'Open Sesame'?" Leonard mumbled to himself.

"Only those with power can open this door..." a mysterious voice said.

Leonard recognized the voice—it was the one that awakened him on the Sky Island! At this moment, his right hand emitted a burst of blue light. He turned around to find a 'ram-headed man' facing him, whose right hand was also glowing blue. This 'ram-headed man' had a head full of lush, long, white hair, two horns stretched out on each side of his head, each side adorned with five ornaments, and strange tattoos on his face. But for some reason, Leonard felt deep down that this man was trustworthy.

The 'ram-headed man' had a profound gaze and introduced himself as Rauru, the master of the right arm. Hearing his name, Leonard felt a twinge of regret. Why didn't he call himself 'Mysterious Master'? If he was Mysterious, Leonard could make a wish. Yes, if he had three wishes, he'd want to build a Gundam, find Zelda, and go home...

"For some reason, I have long lost my physical form and I'm sorry to meet you in this state," Rauru's voice brought Leonard back to reality. From Rauru's voice, Leonard could tell that he was a gentle person. If he had seen this illusory ram-headed man right after waking up completely naked, he might have been scared to death, and the game would have ended there and then...

Now that they had met like this, Leonard felt much more stable.

"The sacred, light-filled space may restore the power of this hand... That's right, why not take a walk around the temple on this island?" Rauru stepped aside, allowing Leonard to see clearly where he was pointing.